Life in a Nutshell: Hey, sniff this!

Sunday

Jan 26, 2014 at 12:06 AM

So I'm tugging on this dog. "Come on. Come on!" I tell her. "It's cold. You just sniffed that. You've sniffed it for 15 minutes. You sniffed it yesterday. It's the same spot. The same dog. It's just pee. Come on!"

I do this all the time. Pull, pull, pull. Tug, tug, tug. She doesn't seem to mind. Or notice. Or even care.

I have to stop and explain things to her. In the nicest tone I can muster. I say, "Now listen here, Lily. You can't stop at every single smell. We'll never get there. You do understand 'there,' right? Nod your head if you understand."

People see this and try not to snicker.

They know what my dog is thinking: "But you CAN stop at every single smell. I just proved it!"

I just want to get there. My whole life I've wanted to get there. Vacations as a kid were never about where we were going. They were about getting in the car and knowing we were on the way. Arrive, look around, then get back in the car and tell the driver to go someplace else.

I'm always on the go. To some place I need to be. Even when there isn't some place I need to be. I walk fast. With purpose. I need to be there. Soon. Now. Already.

My dog is the polar opposite. Nowhere to go, and all the time in the world not to get there. That's the luxury of being a dog. Everywhere is "there."

Recently I've started thinking she's trying to teach me something. That she's a four-legged Zen master with a lesson for me about life. That I should pull less. And focus on where I am, instead of where I'm going to be. Seize the … well … dog pee.

Unless, of course, it smells like hash and vinegar. Then we gotta go.

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